Let Them Bleed, Let Them Wash Away; A Tyler Open Post

[lockwood]

[ooc: Basically, this is free range for people to set up scenes with Tyler. Can be canon, crossover, whatever. There will probably be spoilery things bc I am not dealing well with the events of the last episode, this is the warning for that. Also feel free to comment oocly with an idea, and I can set something up too.]

Comments

[lockwood]

[Of all the things he expected to hear from Caroline right now is that. He was supposed to drive her home, he should have looked for her but he was so upset about the hybrids he couldn't think straight and ---

And his mom is dead.

The glass drops from his hand, shattering onto the floor. He can feel the tears welling up in his eyes and everything just hurts.]

How? [The question is small, quiet.] How did he do it?

[coy]

[ Caroline knows how it feels to lose a parent, how there's nothing anyone can say to make it better, to make you feel better. It's a suffocating dark hole. And she never wanted Tyler to go through it again. The glass falls to the floor and she doesn't even flinch.

Her voice is quiet as his is, broken and heavy with emotion.] They said... My mom said it looked like she'd been drinking and that she fell in the fountain and... drowned. [ But they both knew that wasn't what happened, that it was no accident.] Tyler, I... [ Her hands move to his face, trying to just be there for him, to do anything to help him.]

[lockwood]

[He doesn't move. He doesn't embrace her, he doesn't push her away he just stands there. His dad's death had been hard, their relationship had never been good. He never even got a chance to really properly mourn Mason, by the time he knew he was dead other stuff was going on. But his mom -- she was the last family he had left. ]

I was supposed to be her sober ride home. [If Klaus wanted revenge, it should have been him. Should have been his life. He never wanted to sacrifice anyone else to this cause.]

[coy]

[ Her forehead rests against his for a moment before she pulls back a little to give him space, letting him speak, and shaking her head as a few tears for Carol Lockwood slip down her cheeks but most of her sadness is meant for Tyler.] It's not your fault, Tyler. You didn't know, you didn't know.

[ Any feelings she felt for Klaus, any sympathy, any empathy are gone now, forever. She wants nothing to do with him, there will be no peace, there will be no end until Klaus is dead and she knows it.]

[lockwood]

I just...I blanked out after Hayley told me what was going to happen, I thought if I could get there on time I could save them, I could stop him [But he didn't. The hybrids were dead, and now his mom was, and it was all because of his own stupid plan.

He can't see how this isn't his fault.]

[coy]

Hayley betrayed you. And if you'd been there, you'd be dead now too. [ And that thought makes her feel even sicker.] It isn't fault. It's theirs.

[lockwood]

Was I just stupid? Was I just stupid to think she wanted to help me? To help them?

[coy]

No, Tyler, no. [ her hands slide down his neck to his shoulders.] Tyler. You trusted her and I did too. We thought she wanted to help, she was your friend. I don't know why she did it but... You're not stupid. You're not.

[lockwood]

She said she was trying to find out something about her parents.

[At the cost of his. He feels tears sting his eyes and he finally leans into her touch, resting his forehead against hers.]

My mom just wanted to see me graduate.

[coy]

[Her arms wrap around him and she presses her forehead to his, sucking in a shaky breath, stroking his hair. Her voice is broken and soft--] So did my dad. I hate Klaus, I hate all of this. You don't deserve this.

[lockwood]

None of us do. They didn't. [ the other hybrids.] can you stay here tonight? [ he doesn't care about making Klaus think they were broken up now ]

[coy]

[ she doesn't care either. ] Yeah, of course. I'll stay as long as you want. [ her mom would get it. ] As long as you need me.

[lockwood]

Thanks. [ he doesn't know what else to say. This house is so big and now it's all his. He's too young to have a place this big.]

[coy]

What else? What can I do? [ She feels so helpless. ]

[lockwood]

I don't know. [ he feels lost too. He's felt so sure of things lately and now he is just so lost. ]

[coy]

[ She moves to press a kiss to his lips before she pulls back, moving to pour him a drink, silently. And once that's done, she offers it to him before she moves to clean up the one he dropped.]

[lockwood]

[He takes the drink, almost swallowing it in one gulp. He can't really make sense of anything. It's all a sad, angry blur.

The hybrids, Hayley, Klaus, his mom. His mom. It wasn't that long ago that he buried his dad.]

[coy]

[ She gets the glass cleaned up as best she can, tossing it into the trashcan, knowing that Carol wouldn't want it just there. Maybe it's some sad tribute to her. Once she's done, she offers to take his glass.] Want some more? [ Because it's barely been a year since his dad died and she knows that if there was ever a night to drink it would be tonight.]

[lockwood]

[He nods numbly.] Yeah. [Not that alcohol would make much difference. It didn't when Chris died. But he doesn't know how to deal with this, how he's supposed to handle it. Yeah he's a hybrid and he was his pack's Alpha but he's also just a kid.

This isn't how their lives were supposed to be.]

[coy]

[ She moves to pour more into his glass before she comes back to him, her hand moving to rest on his chest, over his heart. She offers the glass with her gaze on his face because she has no idea what to say, desperate to just make it better but she knows there's nothing she can do.

They're just kids, kids forced to grow up faster than they should. She takes his free hand to bring up to her lips, kissing his palm.] I know I... I know nothing I can do or say can make it better but I wish I could.

[lockwood]

I just wish there was some way we could fix this.

[He takes the glass. He wants to reassure her that he'll be okay, or something, but he's pretty sure he won't be. So he just drinks for a moment.]

I didn't think I'd have to bury someone else again so soon.

[Maybe it's stupid because everyone dies in this town, but he didn't. Chris had been hard enough, and he hadn't known him that well. But his mom?]

[coy]

[ She'd only want to hear that if it were true and she knows that, for now, it's not. She threads their fingers together and she just stands in front of him, listening and watching.] I know. It's just... sometimes it's too much. [ And she wonders why Klaus thinks they'll let this go, or if he even thinks that at all. Did he think she'd be impressed by this ever? Or even forgiving?]

[lockwood]

I might need help, when my dad died, mom set everything up.

[But she's the mayor, she'll need a big funeral and the house will be filled with all those people again and it's just ---

it's too much.]

[coy]

I can do it, Tyler. [ Caroline's good at this stuff, organizing the town, putting together events... it makes her sick to think of it that way but, she'll be able to manage it.] I can do as much as you want me to. And my mom can help too.

[lockwood]

I don't need you to do all of it I just -- I don't think I can do this on my own [Even just the idea of staying here in this giant home of his, alone, it's daunting.]